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The American Prairie Conference occurs every other year. It hasn’t been held in Texas for 30 years!Take advantage of this opportunity to showcase

Prairie Facts

June 2-5, 2019 - Houston, TX

The American Prairie Conference occurs every other year. It hasn’t been held in Texas for 30 years!

Take advantage of this opportunity to showcase Texas’ Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes (an ecoregion in itself) and meet prairie enthusiasts from around America!

Open this link for information and TO REGISTER NOW: North American Prairie Conference website!

If you still have questions, please email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or call 713-581-0818.
Thank you!

January 23, 2019 - Houston, TX

Annual Seed Cleaning and PIZZA Party

(FREE PIZZA will be provided by the Katy Prairie Conservancy!!)

HNPAT’s Monthly Program Meeting

6:30pm in the Red Cross Building located at 2700 SW Freeway.

See the complete program on HNPAT’s website! REGISTER NOW!
HNPAT is partnering with KPC to prepare seeds for KPC’s ‘Great Growout Program’: we will clean seeds and pack them for distribution to individuals who are willing to plant them.

January 26, 2019 - Fort Worth, TX

HELP ROLL SEED BALLS!

SATURDAY, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm.

Tarrant County Resource Connection benefiting the riparian restoration that’s going on in part of the Stella Rowan Prairie.

Tarrant County owns is a beautiful native plant, native prairie, and wildlife habitat!

Monitor Fort Worth NPAT Chapter’s website for more information.

January 26-27, 2019 - Colorado City, TX

Maddin Winter Bird Survey

Saturday and Sunday on our beautiful Maddin Prairie Preserve!

Signup for this opportunity by contacting .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for more information.

February 5, 2019 - San Antonio, TX

San Antonio NPAT Chapter Meeting

Tuesday, 7:00 – 8:30 PM

Della Barbato, “Inspiring Through Education at Lawther Deer Park Prairie”

NPAT AMBASSADOR, EFFERVESCENT, and DELIGHTFUL!! (You will have caught the ‘prairie bug’ before you realize it! She does her job SO WELL!) Della joined our staff in April, 2018 as our Director of Education and is based in the Houston area. (Shell Oil Company bestowed a grant to benefit individuals in their own backyard, the city of Deer Park, TX.) Ms. Barbato teaches levels K-90 (to so many young prairie people!) through her adult programs and teacher workshops in addition to K-12 prairie programs. Della has become the image of NPAT, conservation, prairies, and more to so many prairie people!

You do NOT want to miss the opportunity! Come meet Della and learn about one of the most endangered ecosystems, Lawther-Deer Park Prairie Preserve, a 51-acre conservation easement located in the middle of a subdivisioin in Deer Park, TX.
(NPAT photo: a couple walking Lawther Deer Park Prairie, 04/18.)

We hope to see you at our usual gathering spot, Community Hall of the City of San Antonio’s
Lions Field Adult and Senior Center, 2809 Broadway Street, San Antonio, TX 78209.

ALSO: MARK YOUR 2019 CALENDAR for these SANPAT-sponsored events:
• FEBRUARY 16: SANPAT’s “3rd Saturday Prairie Restoration Workdays on the Kirchoff Family Farm” resume! Details will be posted and emailed each month. It’s a great way to spend your Saturday morning, on the 3rd Saturday of each month, meet up any time after 9am with other prairie enthusiasts, help with some light chores, and enjoy lunch provided by the Kirchoff Family! Stay as long as you like, enjoy the great outdoors, watch birds and other creatures! Fresh air and good company!
• SANPAT CHAPTER MEETINGS are held on the FIRST TUESDAY each month (we reschedule on certain holidays):
- Tuesday, February 5, “Inspiring Through Education at Lawther Deer Park Prairie”, Della Barbato, NPAT Education Director
- Tuesday, March 5, “Grassland Bird Habitat”Will Newman, Texas Coordinating Wildlife Biologist, Texas Oaks & Prairies, Grassland Restoration Incentive Program, “GRIP”.
- Tuesday, April 2, (to be announced)
RESTORATION WORKSHOP
• Saturday, April 6 “History, Archeology, & Prairie Restoration of South Texas Missions Workshop”
Registration and program details will follow.
All are welcome,
Don Kirchoff

February 11, 2019 - Fort Worth, TX

Fort Worth NPAT Chapter Monthly Meet-up:

2nd Monday from 6:30pm – 8pm

Tarrant County College – Northwest Campus Greenhouse Tour

Tarrant County College’s Northwest Campus has endeavored on a prairie restoration project at the site of their future Marine Creek Nature Discovery Center (MCNDC) project.
Professors and students of the Biology & Horticulture Departments have surveyed the site to identify flora and fauna, remove invasive species, seed the site and water it during establishment.
The Horticulture Department has been growing native grasses and wildflowers collected from the site in their greenhouse.
Join us on a tour of the greenhouse facility and learn about their prairie restoration project.

Download map: TCC-NW Meeting Location 2018 – 2019

RSVP by February 11, 2019 - Houston, TX

Texas Parks & Wildlife Department has partnered with UofH’s Clear Lake Environmental Institute of Houston and planned a Prescribed Fire Awareness Workshop Saturday, February 16 - for Landowners, students, and community members with limited exposure to prescribed fire. Email or call Wendy Reistle, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or 281-283-3045. Wendy is the Environmental Education Coordinator, UofH Clear Lake, Environmental Institute of Houston.

Workshop attendees may apply what you learned later this spring by volunteering to assist in the SPRING PERSCRIBED BURN TPWD and UofH Clear Lake’s Environmental Institute of Houston at UH Coastal Center in La Marque are planning.
Volunteers who wish to assist will ideally have scheduling flexibility as a prescribed burn cannot proceed unless certain weather parameters are met.This means an exact burn date cannot be set far in advance; we need volunteers ‘at the ready’!
To volunteer for the PRESCRIBED BURN contact Evelyn Merz Coordinator at the Texas Institute for Coastal Prairie Research and Education. Her email is .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address); call & leave her a voice message at 713-644-8228.

February 12, 2019 - Dallas, TX

Blackland NPAT Chapter, BNPAT Monthly Meeting

6:30pm at CC Young, 4847 W Lawther Dr, Ste 100, Dallas, TX 75214

Join us for North Texas legendary’s native grass expert and grower, John Snowden, the ‘Original North Texas Native Grass Man’!

February 16, 2019 - Floresville, TX

Our ‘3rd Saturday Workday’ resumes at the Kirchoff Family Farm.

Beginning at 9 am - Leave when you’re ready - Lunch provided by the Kirchoffs!

Scott Kirchoff, Brenda Kirchoff, the Schindlers Brenda plants pollinator seedlings for barrier
(from Victoria), and an unidentified volunteer. against windblown invasive seeds.

Make plans to enjoy your ‘3rd Saturday morning’ on the prairie! Meet up with other prairie enthusiasts, help with some light chores, and enjoy lunch provided by the Kirchoff Family!
Great outdoors, bird and creature watching, (open this link to the bird sighting list Jane Tillman documented on the Kirchoff Family Farm November 3, 2018), fresh air, and good company.

All are welcome,
Don Kirchoff

Mid-February, 2019 - Plan to visit Big Bend National Park

Photo of Blue Bonnets in Dry Wash

By Jason Weingart, Photographer
Excerpts from February 7, 2018 Article:
If you are willing to make the drive toward Big Bend National Park you can see our earliest-blooming ‘bluebonnets’ between Alpine & Terlingua (Hwy 118).
These are a different species which grow more sparsely and can reach 3 ft in height!

February 27, 2019 - Houston, TX

HNPAT Program Meeting

Wednesday from 6:30pm – 8:30pm

“Inspiring Through Education at Lawther Deer Park Prairie”

(NPAT photo: a couple walking Lawther Deer Park Prairie, 04/18.)

Presented by Della Barbato, NPAT’s Director of Education

NPAT AMBASSADOR! Della joined NPAT’s staff in April, 2018 and is based in the Houston area. (Shell Oil Company bestowed a grant to benefit individuals in their own backyard, the city of Deer Park.) She has become the image of NPAT, conservation, prairies, and more to so many prairie people. She teaches levels K-90 (to so many young prairie people!) through her adult programs and teacher workshops in addition to K-12 prairie programs.

• Come meet Della and learn about one of the most endangered ecosystems, Lawther-Deer Park Prairie Preserve, a 51-acre conservation easement located in the middle of a subdivisioin in Deer Park, TX.
• We’lll also have board member Hazel Potvin bring us up to-to-date on the progress at the Prairie Demo Garden at Willow Waterhole, which Don Verser has been working on.
• We’ll meet at the American Red Cross, 2700 Southwest Fwy, Houston, TX 77098, USA (map)
All are welcome!

February 27 thru March 1, 2019 - Austin, TX

2019 TLC CONFERENCE

• Conservation Related Policy Issues
• Conservation Easements & Private Land Conservation
• Opportunities to Enhance Texas Conservation Efforts
• Community Conservation and Landowner Engagement
• Land Stewardship
• Fantastic Networking Opportunities
• And Much More!

March 2, 2019 - Mineral Wells, TX

Hike Penitentiary Hollow with Jeff Quayle

Saturday, March 2 from 10am – 1pm

NOTE: Must pay entrance to Lake Mineral Wells State Park & Trailway. Meet in the parking lot to the picnic area by10am.
-Jeff Quayle will be leading an adventurous hike and will need a head count of attendees, so if you plan on coming, please RSVP or email Jeff (any Questions?): .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
-This will be a moderate hike through Penitentiary Hollow. Hiking boots, long pants and a long sleeve shirt or dressing in layers are preferred.
-BE PREPARED for a lot of exploring off of the main trails - weather permitting.
-Trees and understory species should be leafing out, so we may be dodging some brush and greenbriar. Be prepared to explore some nook and crannies of the hollows.
-We will be observing our native ferns in the area and other natives in the park. A few rare species in the park will be discussed.

Please NOTE: The Fort Worth NPAT Chapter will NOT meet March 11

We hope to see you at our two ‘Saturday’ explorations in March:

March 2, 2019, for our “Hike Penitentiary Hollow” with Jeff Quayle near Mineral Wells, TX, and
March 23, 2019, The Fort Worth Chapter heads east and will be joined by our Blackland Chapter to “Hike & Learn” while exploring two natural history gems in Dallas County: Pemberton’s Big Spring Preserve and Crawford Memorial Park’s prairie remnant.

Make plans to join us for our “April 8 Meet up”, the 2nd Tuesday of April!

March 5, 2019 - Dallas, TX

BNPAT’s MARCH Chapter Meeting has been moved to the FIRST TUESDAY, March 5, at 6:30 pm

Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center Co-founder, David Hurt, will be our guest speaker.

David is quite the ‘BIRD TALKER’, so mark this date on your calendar and join us TUESDAY, MARCH 5th at 6:30pm, at our usual meeting place, CC Young (4847 W Lawther Dr, Ste 100, Dallas, TX 75214).

Dogwood Canyon is 16 miles south of downtown Dallas in Cedar Hill, TX and is part of the White Rock Escarpment. “Nowhere in North Texas can one find a greater variety of rare species than in Dogwood Canyon. Plants and animals from east, west and central Texas converge here, making the canyon the only place in the world where one can find the Black-chinned Hummingbird of west Texas nesting in the flowering dogwood tree of east Texas.

Audubon owns or manages over 200 acres of nearly pristine wildlife habitat in the canyon, and because the property neighbors university, county, and state lands, it is part of a nearly 3,000 acre greenbelt in southwest Dallas County.” Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center.

Watch for details regarding our APRIL 9 CHAPTER MEETING (back to the 2nd Tuesday). BNPAT and the Trinity Valley Beekeepers will meet together.